A young Black man in San Francisco named Trevon Morgan was allegedly being verbally and racially harassed by a homeless white man, when another white man falsely accused him of threatening the homeless white man and damaging his car. Morgan has now been acquitted by a jury that heard the case.
According to the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, 21-year-old Morgan was acquitted by a San Francisco jury on Thursday, Jan. 11, after they deliberated for just 45 minutes. Morgan was charged with felony attempted robbery of a man’s reading glasses. He was involved in a verbal altercation with a white man who used racial slurs against him (he reportedly appeared to be homeless and mentally ill) and another white man, who just happened to come along during the argument, also got into it with Morgan when he sided with the man who was racially harassing him. He called police officers and told them that Morgan had threatened him and also dented his car. Both accusations were false.
“The allegations in this case
were reminiscent of other “Karen” cases where someone called the police on a Black person who had done nothing wrong. Here, the complaining witness racially profiled Mr. Morgan, who is Black, assumed the worst about him, and falsely accused him of wrongdoing based on the color of his skin,” said Deputy Public Defender Ilona Yañez, in a written statement. “Police and prosecutors pursued this case without any corroborating evidence of a crime, despite the numerous glaring red flags as to the complaining witness’s credibility, and in so doing perpetuated this vigilante’s racism.”The incident took place on Aug. 23, 2023. The accuser called the police and stated that Morgan threatened to kill and rob him, and he threw in that the Black man damaged his car. Yet, body-worn camera footage from a police officer who arrived at the scene seemed like the officer did not believe the white caller. Then, the man admitted the damage done to his vehicle was not caused by Morgan. But, police arrested Morgan anyway.
Due to the District Attorney’s Office charging Morgan with a felony charge, he lost his job as a security guard.
“When prosecutors bring charges and are unwilling to look at the merit of the evidence, it is severely damaging to the accused and a waste of public resources,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “I appreciate our defense team’s unwavering advocacy of Mr. Morgan and thank the jury for returning a just verdict.”
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